How to Grow Black Sunflower Shoots in Australia

Black sunflower shoots are the young seed leaves of black oil sunflower (Helianthus annuus, family Asteraceae). Grown thickly on a tray of mix and cut to be eaten raw, they are crunchy and mildly nutty. Most trays are ready 8 to 14 days from the soak, and the seed is sprouted in a jar before it goes on the mix.

Three mistakes that matter

1. Letting the seed float. Whole sunflower seed floats, so seed at the surface soaks unevenly and comes up in patches. Hold it under for the whole soak, and rinse until root tips show.
2. Sowing in drifts and watering from above. Seed heaped in drifts stays wet underneath, and a soggy base in still air is where mould starts. Sow one dense layer, seeds touching, and water from below.
3. Waiting for true leaves. Once a second pair of leaves shows between the two seed leaves, sunflower shoots turn bitter. Cut while only the seed leaves are open.

When to sprout

Sunflower shoots grow indoors, so any month suits them, and they do best at about 18 to 24°C. A hotter room dries the mix quickly and, with poor airflow, invites mould. A cool one slows germination and stretches the wait.

Food safety

The warm, damp tray that grows a shoot also suits bacteria, and bacteria carried inside a contaminated seed cannot be washed out.

• Use untreated seed sold for sprouting. Seed sold for sowing can be treated with fungicide, as which seeds to sprout explains.
• Wash your hands first. Wash and rinse the tray, jar and tools, then sanitise them before the first batch and between batches. Use a dishwasher that can sanitise, usually its longest, hottest setting. Otherwise, soak them in very hot water (77°C for 30 seconds). Or use plain unscented household bleach at 25 mL to 10 L of cold water for 30 seconds, made up fresh each day. Let them air-dry.
• Soak, rinse and water only with water fit to drink.
• Seed raising and potting mix can carry Legionella bacteria. Follow the bag warning: wet the mix down, wear gloves and a P2 mask, and wash your hands afterwards.
• Store cut shoots in a fridge at 5°C or colder, above and away from raw meat, poultry and seafood. Use them within 3 to 5 days. Cook shoots for anyone at higher risk and serve them straight away. Leftovers are cooled, kept in the fridge, used within a day of cooking and reheated until steaming hot.
• Mould on the seeds, slimy stems or a sour smell end a tray: compost it and start again. Shoots can carry harmful bacteria while looking, smelling and tasting normal, so none of those is a test of safety. See sprout problems and safety.

What you need

Use a shallow tray with drainage holes, a solid tray under it, and 2 to 4 cm of seed raising mix. A second tray holding a few food tins makes the cover and weight. Use about 1 to 2 kg on a 25 x 50 cm tray, less on smaller ones. Add clean scissors, a spray bottle and black sunflower seed, which is untreated. For the soak, a sprouting jar or a jar with a mesh lid holds the seed under and drains it.

Start at the low end, and sow a little less next time if mould appears. Shelled kernels are a jar crop. Raw hulled kernels sold for sprouting soak for 30 minutes to 2 hours, then are rinsed every 8 to 12 hours.

They are ready in 1 to 2 days, once a tail shows, and keep only a few days. This packet is whole seed in the shell, for tray shoots, and the shell is not eaten.

Soaking and Sowing

Start the soak in the evening, and the seed is usually ready to sow a day or two later.

1. Rinse the seed and pick out broken seeds and loose bits of shell.
2. Cover it with two to three times its volume of cool drinking water. Fill the jar to the brim under its lid, or weigh the seed down with a plate.
3. Soak for 8 to 12 hours, then drain. Never soak it a second time.
4. Rinse and drain every 8 to 12 hours until most seeds show a tiny white root tip.
5. Wet the mix right through and let it drain. Spread the seed in one dense layer and press it gently onto the surface.
6. Mist the seed, cover it with the weighted tray and keep it dark.

Between rinses, leave the jar upside down at an angle over a bowl, because seed left sitting in water can sour. The weight drives roots down into the mix instead of lifting the seed, and loosens the shells.

Day by day

Firm contact with the mix, then light and moving air, decide a good tray.

Cutting and Storing

The shoots are ready when both seed leaves have opened and most shells have dropped, usually at 8 to 15 cm tall. Black oil seed has a thinner shell than grey striped seed, so it sheds more easily, though its shoots grow a little shorter.

• A day or two before cutting, mist the tops and cover the tray loosely with clear plastic to soften clinging shells. In a hot, humid kitchen, skip the cover and brush them off dry, because a covered tray can go mouldy.
• Tilt the tray and brush your hand back and forth across the tops to knock shells off.
• Peel off any shell still clamped over a leaf, or leave that shoot behind.
• Cut with clean scissors just above the mix, leaving seed, root and mix in the tray.

Uncover the tray for the last 8 to 12 hours and water only the mix, so the leaves are dry to the touch. Seal the shoots in a clean container, refrigerate them as Food safety describes, and rinse them under cool running water just before use.

Sunflower shoots are often eaten raw in salads, sandwiches and wraps. To follow the NSW advice in Food safety, stir them through a hot soup or stir-fry until steaming hot.

Common problems

White fuzz on the roots. Root hairs form an even white halo on the roots only, and collapse when misted. Mould can be white too, but it spreads in cobwebby patches over seeds and mix, stays when wet and smells musty. A mouldy tray ends as Food safety describes.

Pale, tall or leaning shoots. If stems stay pale or stretch after two days in light, move the tray somewhere brighter and turn it every few days.

Patchy or no germination. Seed that dried out under the cover, or old seed, sprouts unevenly. If most seeds show no root tip after three days of rinsing, compost them and start afresh.

Sour smell or slimy stems. The tray stayed too wet. End it as Food safety describes, and water only from below next time.

Tips

1. Soak a small batch every few days for a steady supply.
2. Cut only what you need, and let the rest grow on, cutting it before true leaves show.
3. Store dry seed sealed in a cool, dark, dry cupboard, where it keeps for up to about two years.
4. Compost the mix and roots after the last cut, wash the tray, and never sow into used mix.